First shown off at CES 2013, the EVGA Minibox is a small form factor chassis for Mini-ITX systems that can accommodate large graphics cards. EVGA has managed to enable users to pack a lot of hardware into this tiny form factor chassis. As a demonstration of the case's capabilities, the company showed off the latest version using a full system build with Core i7-4770K and GTX TITAN interals at Computex this week in Taipei.

The Minibox chassis itself is a dark brushed metal case with two USB 3.0 ports on the front IO and space for a slot loading optical drive. The MiniBox chassis further features a motherboard tray that supports Mini-ITX boards, two 2.5" SATA hard drive bays – and best of all – enough room to install full size GPUs. In order to support lengthy graphics cards, EVGA is including a small form factor 500W power supply that is mounted on the floor of the case..

HEXUS reporters spot the EVGA Minibox at Computex 2013. Look how small it is!

There will be at least two SKUs of the Minibox, depending on whether you want to go with air or water cooling. According to Bit-Tech.net, the air cooled version will use two 92mm fans in the top of the case and one 80mm fan for the bottom-mounted PSU. The water cooled SKU will be slightly larger but have enough room for a water cooling radiator (likely 240mm). Beyond that, details are scarce, but the air cooled version is said to be available as soon as next month with water cooled options becoming available later this year.

The Minibox looks to be one of the better Mini-ITX cases out there (although the price is still unknown), and should be popular among enthusiasts wanting a small box that does not sacrifice gaming potential.

Now that NVIDIA's GTX 770 reference graphics card is official, the various partners have begun unleashing their own spins on the hardware. Unlike the TITAN, NVIDIA is allowing custom PCBs and coolers, making the selection of GTX 770 cards much more diverse and unique.

In fact, EVGA has a slew of GTX 770-based graphics cards planned for 2014. Out of the gate, there will be two graphics cards available to consumers: The GTX 770 and the GTX 770 Superclocked. Both cards will come equipped with the company's new ACX cooler. In addition, the GTX 770 FTW, GTX 770 4GB, GTX 770 FTW 4GB, and the GTX 770 Classified 4GB cards will also come with the ACX cooler and will be available later this year. Details on those last four cards are still unknown, but EVGA has provided specifications on the first two, which will be available soon.

The EVGA GTX 770 w/ ACX

The EVGA GTX 770 w/ ACX is a GK-104 “Kepler” GPU clocked at 1046 MHz base and 1085 MHz boost. The card also features 2GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 7010 MHz.

EVGA is also introducing a Superclocked edition of the GTX 770 that will use the new ACX cooler. This GTX 770 ACX Superclocked has factory overclocked speeds of 1111 MHz base and 1163 MHz boost. The 2GB of GDDR5 memory remains at the reference clockspeed of 7010 MHz.

Both of these cards use EVGA's new ACX cooler which uses a new heatsink design paired with two fans (dual ball bearing) and a back-plate that is reportedly lighter, quieter, and cooler-running than the reference cooler.

The EVGA GTX 770 4GB Classified GPU with ACX cooler. It is listed on the site, but not available yet.

The EVGA GTX 770 ACX and GTX 770 Superclocked ACX will be available soon for an as-yet-unannounced price. The Superclocked edition has some impressive factory overclock numbers, though it will likely come at a premium. The other interesting takeaway from the EVGA announcement is the confirmation of 4GB GTX 770 cards coming in the future. More information can be found on the EVGA product page.

While NVIDIA restricted partners from going with aftermarket coolers on the company's GTX TITAN graphics card, the recently released NVIDIA GTX 780 does not appear to have the same limits placed upon it. As such, many manufacturers will be releasing GTX 780 graphics cards with custom coolers. One such design that caught my attention was the Hydro Copper full cover waterblock from EVGA.

This new cooler will be used on at least two upcoming EVGA graphics cards, the GTX 780 and GTX 780 Classified. EVGA has not yet announced clockspeeds or pricing for the Classified edition, but the GTX 780 Hydro Copper will be a GTX 780 GPU clocked at 980 MHz base and 1033 MHz boost. The 3GB of GDDR5 memory is stock clocked at 6008 MHz, however. It uses a single 8-pin and a single 6-pin PCI-E power connector. This card is selling for around $799 at retailers such as Newegg.

The GTX 780 Classified Hydro Copper will have a factory overclocked GTX 780 GPU and 3GB of GDDR5 memory at 6008 MHz, but beyond that details are scarce. The 8+8-pin PCI-E power connectors do suggest a healthy overclock (or at least that users will be able to push the cards after they get them).

Both the GTX 780 and GTX 780 Classified Hydro Copper graphics cards feature two DL-DVI, one HDMI, and one DisplayPort video outputs.

The Hydro Copper cooler itself is the really interesting bit about these cards though. It is a single slot, full cover waterblock that will cool the entire graphics card (GPU, VRM, Memory, ect). It has two inlet/outlet ports that can be swapped around to accommodate SLI setups or other custom water tube routing. A configurable LED-backlit EVGA logo adorns the side of the card and can be controlled in software. A 0.25 x 0.35 pin matrix is used in the portion of the block above the GPU to increase the surface area and aid in cooling. Unfortunately, while the card and cooler are single slot, you will actually need two case PCI expansion slots due to the two DL-DVI connectors.

It looks like a neat card, and it should perform well. I'm looking forward to seeing reviews of the card and how the cooler holds up to overclocking. Buying an overclocked card with a pre-installed waterblock is not for everyone but having a water cooled GPU with a warranty will be worth it more than pairing a stock card with a custom block.

It is never a good sign when a company does not want to send their hardware to review sites for testing and the ECGA superNOVA NEX1500 Classified PSU is no exception. [H] purchased one out of pocket to test and they what they saw did not impress them very much. One of the less than useful features they found was on the 12V rail, or rather on the eight 12V rails, each of which is rated at 20A. The connectors are certainly impressive, with 16 PCIe connectors, 12 SATA and a very thick power cord, which of course leads to a lot of cable clutter. Add to that the mislabelled PCIe lines and the need to register a user to be able to download the software to try to fix that problem and you can see why [H] failed this drive. At least it didn't burst into flames in the torture test, although it may have caused some hearing loss.

"EVGA did not want to send us one of its 1500W PSU beasts to review, so we went out and bought the $450 behemoth so we could put it through the HardOCP PSU grinder. EVGA clearly states that NEX1500 PSU is all about "no compromises," but we suggest that compromises are exactly what you will be making; more than a few too."

Introduction and Technical Specifications

Introduction

Courtesy of EVGA

Sometimes, good things do come in small packages. The latest board on our test bench from EVGA proves that fact, the EVGA Z77 Stinger. The Z77 Stinger is a micro-ITX form factor board based on the Intel Z77 chipset, but don’t let its size fool you. This board is packed with features and delivers the performance that we’ve come to expect out of its full-size brethren. At a mere $199.99 base price, the EVGA Z77 Stinger would be at home in any enthusiast’s full tower case or HTPC build.

Courtesy of EVGA

Even with its small stature, the EVGA Z77 Stinger promises to pack some power. It features support for the following: SATA 2, SATA 3, eSATA, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 type devices; two different network types featuring an Intel GigE NIC and an Atheros Bluetooth adapter; PCI-Express x16 3.0 and m-PCIe ports; and HDMI 1.4 and DisplayPort 1.1a style video ports. With the addition of an m-PCIe adapter, the board can support onboard Wi-Fi as well.

As those of you who have already read the post below this one know, ASUS decided to create a DirectCU II model for their GTX 660, with the famous heatpipe bearing heatsink. They have overclocked the GPU already and the card comes with tools to allow you to push it even further if you take the time to get to know your card and what it can manage. Check the full press release below.

Fremont, CA (September 13, 2012) - ASUS is excited to release the ASUS GeForce GTX 660 DirectCU II series featuring the Standard, OC and TOP editions. Utilizing the latest 28nm NVIDIA Kepler graphics architecture, the OC and TOP cards deliver a factory-overclock while all three cards feature ASUS exclusive DirectCU thermal design and GPU Tweak tuning software to deliver a quieter, cooler, faster, and more immersive gameplay experience. The ASUS GeForce GTX 660 DirectCU II series set a new benchmark for exceptional performance and power efficiency in a highly affordable graphics card. The ASUS GeForce GTX 660 DirectCU II is perfect for gamers looking to upgrade from last-generation graphics technology while retaining ASUS’ class-leading cooling and acoustic performance.

Superior Design and Software for the Best Gaming Experience ASUS equips the GeForce GTX 660 DirectCU II series with 2GB of GDDR5 memory clocked up to 6108MHz. The TOP edition features a blistering GPU core boost clock of 1137MHz, 104MHz faster than reference designs while the OC edition arrives with a factory-set GPU core boost speed of 1085MHz. Exclusive ASUS DIGI+ VRM digital power delivery and user-friendly GPU Tweak tuning software allows all cards to easily overclock beyond factory-set speeds offering enhanced performance in your favorite game or compute intensive application.

The ASUS GeForce GTX 660 DirectCU II series feature exclusive DirectCU technology. The custom designed cooler uses direct contact copper heatpipes for faster heat transduction and up to 20% lower normal operating temperatures than reference designs. The optimized fans are able operate at lower speeds providing a much quieter gaming or computing environment. For enhanced stability, energy efficiency, and overclocking margins the cards feature DIGI+ VRM digital power deliver plus a class-leading six-phase Super Alloy Power design for the capacitors, chokes, and MOSFETs meant to extend product lifespan and durability while operating noise-free even under heavy workloads.

ASUS once again includes the award winning GPU Tweak tuning suite in the box. Overclocking-inclined enthusiasts or gamers can boost clock speeds, set power targets, and configure fan operating parameters and policies; all this and more is accessible in the user-friendly interface. GPU Tweak offers built-in safe guards to ensure all modifications are safe, maintaining optimal stability and card reliability.

The non-Ti version of the GTX 660 has arrived on test benches and retailers, with even the heavily overclocked cards being available at $230, like EVGA's Superclocked model or MSI's OC'd card once you count the MIR. That price places it right in between the HD 7850 and 7870, and ~$70 less than the GTX 660 Ti, while the performance is mostly comparable to a stock HD7870 though the OC versions can top the GTX660.

[H]ard|OCP received ASUS' version of the card, a DirectCU II based version with the distinctive heatpipes. ASUS overclocked the card to a 1072MHz base clock and 1137MHz GPU Boost and [H] plans to see just how much further the frequencies can be pushed at a later date. Their final word on this card for those looking to upgrade, for those of you with "a GTX 560 Ti, and even the GTX 570, the GTX 660 is an upgrade".

"NVIDIA is launching the new GeForce GTX 660 GPU, codenamed GK106. We have a retail ASUS GeForce GTX 660 DirectCU II custom video card fully evaluated against a plethora of competition at this price point. This brand new GPU aims for a price point just under the GTX 660 Ti but still promises to deliver exceptional 1080p gaming with AA."